Work continues during the lame duck session of Congress on approving a new Farm Bill, but work requirements for food stamp recipients continue to be a major stumbling block. Republican Representative Ralph Abraham from Richland Parish is pushing for work or educational requirements for able-bodied adults, but Democrats want to completely rewrite the bill.More

Louisiana Congressman Ralph Abraham calls the passage of the
Farm Bill in the U.S. House a great day for America’s farmers. Abraham, who is
the only member of Louisiana’s delegation on the agriculture committee, says it will help farmers recover from natural disasters.More

The Department of Children and Family Services has seen a huge decrease in the number of dead people getting food stamps after implementing a successful new program in partnership with the Department of Health that helps identify recipients who’ve died. More

Baton Rouge Congressman Garret Graves says he’s filed a common-sense approach to reforming the food stamp program that would impact able-bodied adults without dependents. Graves says his bill would connect SNAP recipients with job search and job training programs to help them find work opportunities.More

The Department of Children and Family Services encourages Louisiana residents to pre-register for disaster food stamps in preparation for hurricane season. Kim Matherne with DCFS says pre-registering gets your information in the system and makes things move smoother following a disaster.More

Drug felons will soon be eligible to receive food stamps upon their release from jail. In the 90s, offenders with drug related charges were barred from the program for one year after their release. The bill by New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno lifts that ban.

Drug felons would be eligible for food stamps for the first time in decades under a House-approved measure by New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno. In the 1990s offenders with drug related charges were barred from the assistance program, while all other felons remained eligible.More

A bill heading to the House Floor would lift the one year ban for individuals convicted of a drug related felony to receive food stamps and welfare benefits after being released from prison. New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno says the ban was originally placed as a deterrent not to commit drug related crimes, but it hasn't workMore

The number of food stamp recipients is increasing in Louisiana, while that rate is falling nationwide. That’s according to the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services nearly one in five Louisiana residents are on the federal food assistance program. Director of the Louisiana Budget Project, Jan Moller, says that increase is due to job loss in the oil and gas industry because low oil prices hurt Louisiana’s economy more than other states.More

The House approved a bill to allow lawmakers to have a say in whether food stamp recipients should be required to work to receive federal assistance. But Bogalusa Rep. Malinda White disagrees because as many as 16,000 people in the oil industry have recently lost their jobs and there is no way to replace that many jobs at this time.More